


The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 4, The Act of Succession

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e04 The Act of Succession, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24922633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 4, The Act of Succession

Open to baby Elizabeth being baptised by Cranmer. Afterward, carrying her, Mary B leads everyone back to Anne’s chambers.

Meanwhile, Henry orders Cromwell to make sure the line of succession is firmly vested in his children with Anne. He wants to sanction people unwilling to accept his marriage to Anne, but he’s willing to give everyone a chance to prove their loyalty.

Elsewhere, Eustace informs Mary of Elizabeth’s birth, and in trying to comfort Mary, he says he believes Anne giving birth to a girl rather than a boy is proof God has abandoned Anne. Mary is quietly gleeful.

She asks about Catherine. Eustace explains he isn’t allowed to visit her. Her ladies, however, tell him she’s strong and is continuing to seek permission to see Mary. Mary insists her father will one day relent due to his love for her (Mary).

Eustace has seen first-hand what sort of person Henry is, but unable to bring himself to take what little bit of hope and comfort Mary still has, he agrees.

Over at More’s, a bishop visits. It’s mentioned Fisher is still under house arrest.

Considering he essentially called Henry a tyrant, gave a speech condemning Henry’s adulterous affair with Anne, and has just generally been a thorn in Henry’s side for years, I’m surprised he hasn’t already been thrown in the tower to rot.

The bishop asks why More didn’t attend Anne’s coronation.

In answer, More tells a story of an emperor who refused to put to death virgins. One day, a virgin was convicted of a crime carrying the penalty of death, and the emperor’s solution was to have her raped. He finishes by saying accepting the marriage means having to one day defend it, and he refuses to do so.

This is stupid and nonsensical.

To take some things he just mentioned: I accept the fact rape happens. I accept the fact the death penalty happens in various places around the world. I accept the fact virginity is a rather loaded concept wherein people, women, especially, can never win.

I don’t like any of these things. I would change them if I could, and in fact, I do peacefully and legally do things to advocate for a world without the first two and for a change in attitude towards the latter. Though I can’t completely rule out extreme circumstances, I desperately hope I never do find myself defending any of the above.

Yet, to say rape doesn’t happen, people aren’t sometimes killed by their state/country as a form of punishment, and women and, worse, young girls aren’t constantly sexualised in a punishing way would be to deny reality.

Henry and Anne are married. There’s a difference between saying, ‘Unfortunately, these two people are married, and we must leave it up to God to judge them’ and saying, ‘Hey, these two people are perfectly suited for one another, and I believe God sanctions their marriage.’

At the castle, Mark is playing the violin naked. The camera eventually reveals a fully clothed George standing in the doorway. He speaks up, and it’s ambiguous if Mark knew he was there or not. “Do you play,” Mark asks.

“All the time,” George answers with his tone suggesting he’s not talking about music.

There’s no kiss, but their body language and the way they touch gives the implication something sexual is about to happen.

Next, there’s a brief scene of Eleanor and Henry, and things are much more explicit with them.

The next scene has Charles Brandon teaching his incredibly curly-haired son how to shoot arrows. Cromwell appears. On Charles Brandon’s insistence, he shoots an arrow, and he does better than Charles Brandon did.

Charles Brandon suggests they go walking. They do, and he asks what Henry wants. Cromwell answers Henry wants Charles Brandon at court due to missing him. Knowing Henry, Charles Brandon responds, “And?”

Cromwell brings up the fact Charles Brandon openly favours the imperial cause and has a great sympathy for Catherine. Charles Brandon asks if he doesn’t, too. Cromwell answers honestly he does. He’s not heartless as some people claim. He continues, wherever his sympathies lie, he serves Henry. After explaining about the Act of Succession, Cromwell says Henry wants to know if he’ll have Charles Brandon’s support.

At the castle, Anne and her ladies fuss over Elizabeth. Anne starts to breastfeed her, but making his presence known, Henry forbids Anne from doing so.

Next is a scene where I find myself feeling genuinely bad for More.

At the More household, he makes an announcement to his family: Due to his reduced income, the grown children need to start fully supporting themselves.

For all his faults, More is a family man. It hurts him to tell his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren this. If he had his way, they could all live with him and eat his food for as long as they wanted, and the ones who didn’t live with him could come over for every meal if they wanted to. However, this isn’t possible, and some of his children are still truly dependent on him. To try to take care of them, he can’t afford to take care of the ones who are able to make their own way.

Next, it’s day, and Mary is placed in attendance of Elizabeth. Mary tells Lady Bryan, Elizabeth’s governess, she’ll say her prayers alone in the morning. After being led to her small, sparse room, Mary breaks down.

There’s a time jump to a Christmas feast where Wyatt is talking to George. He wonders why, as they get older, it always seems to be Christmas.

I imagine this is a way of winking at the audience due to the fact there’s already been one Christmas celebration this season.

George now has some more titles, and Wyatt ribs him about now being the lord of an insane asylum. He asks him he if plans to visit it, though not as an inmate, obviously. George informs Wyatt he read one of Wyatt’s satires. He warns Wyatt should be careful of insulting those who can hurt him.

Henry and Anne are happily dancing, and she shows him a contraption Holbein built.

Sadly, Holbein doesn’t appear in this episode.

They kiss, and Eustace and Brereton watch from afar. Brereton insists he could find a way to poison Anne. “No,” Eustace responds.

Knowing Brereton, he’d probably somehow end up accidentally poisoning Catherine or Mary.

Eustace says Brereton would be caught, tortured, and give everything up. Then, Eustace’s master would be blamed. Brereton insists he’d die a martyr’s death, and Eustace answers, “You’ve never seen a man being tortured.”

Anne wanders away, and Charles Brandon appears. He and Henry hug, and he says he has a present for Henry. When Henry wants to know where said present is, Charles Brandon answers he’ll have to wait until the next Parliament session; he promises his vote.

Henry wonders how he could have ever doubted Charles Brandon.

I wonder this myself. Even people who don’t believe Charles Brandon is in love with Henry agree he is Henry’s man through and through.

Next, as Henry dances with Eleanor, Anne dances with George. She orders him to get rid of Eleanor. Then, she tells Mary B they need to find Mary B a husband. Finally, dancing Henry, she announces she’s pregnant again.

The next scene is intercut by Cromwell and More both reading the Act of Succession and Supremacy. It must be sworn by oath.

In the Vatican, the pope is told about the oath. It’s revealed Fisher is now in prison. It’s never said why, but I’m not so sure he didn’t earn this by breaking house arrest.

The pope decides to make Fisher a cardinal. He orders the gout man to send a hat to England.

Back in London, Henry goes to see Elizabeth. When he leaves, he sees Mary watching him from the balcony, and he bows. She curtsies.

This small moment does a good job of showing Henry’s complex emotional state in regards to some of those who oppose him.

At the castle, George makes it clear, if Eleanor doesn’t leave, he’ll have her framed for stealing.

In Anne’s chambers, her ladies wake Anne up by laughing. When she asks what they’re laughing over, they’re reluctant to show her. It’s a poem by Wyatt, and she angrily says, if they wish to read when they’re supposed to be attending to her, they should be reading the English Bible she provided.

Boleyn appears, and the ladies leave. He tells her the French king sent wedding gifts but won’t officially recognise the marriage. Anne expresses her fear of Henry taking another mistress.

I’m not suggesting she have sex if the pregnancy makes it unappealing to her, but her concern having sex might hurt the baby is misplaced. As long protection is used in the case of STDs and no difficult positions are attempted, sex during pregnancy is usually safe.

Boleyn defends Henry by saying men, especially kings, takes mistresses when their wives are pregnant. He suggests she should pick Henry’s next mistress so she doesn’t end up with one who manages to play the same game Anne did.

He leaves, and Anne looks over to see her cousin Madge has reappeared.

Madge is likely a composite character. There was a Margaret (Madge) and Mary Sheldon. They were cousins of Anne’s, but historians aren’t certain which of them Henry’s mistress was. There’s written evidence one of them was, but whether it’s Mar **g** or Mar **y** is still being debated.

In the tower, Cromwell goes to see Fisher. Complaining about the jail food, Fisher makes it clear he won’t swear the oath. He asks about More. Not answering, Cromwell says he’ll see if he can do something about the food, and then, leaves.

Meanwhile, Henry asks Anne why she dismissed Eleanor. Answering Eleanor stole something precious from her, she continues she has something for Henry. As Madge appears and kneels down to present the gift, it’s obvious she doesn’t realise what’s happening. However, Henry seems to suspect what Anne’s doing.

The present is a miniature of Elizabeth.

Later, Cromwell presents a bill to Henry for the dissolution of monasteries of monks who refuse to take the oath. He explains the wealth will be transferred to the treasury, and Henry signs it. Then, Cromwell informs him about Fisher being made cardinal.

The pope’s hope Fisher wouldn’t be harmed due to his promotion is proven wrong as, Henry angrily declares, by the time the hat arrives, Fisher’s head will be gone.

Meanwhile, Anne visits Elizabeth. She offers to reconcile Mary to Henry if she’ll accept her as queen. Mary replies she recognises only her mother as queen. However, she would be grateful if her father’s mistress interceded on her behalf.

At Cromwell’s office, More arrives. Cromwell makes it clear he doesn’t want any harm to befall More.

I do think he’s sincere here. However, rather than due to any fondness for More, I think it’s a case of him not wanting to be involved with Henry striking at More. He knows Henry could easily blame him when the regret sets in.

He asks what More’s opinion of Henry’s marriage to Anne is. Answering has no opinion, he claims he neither speaks for or against it.

For a man who prides himself on honesty, this is a cowardly answer. He does have an opinion. If he’d just said the latter part about not speaking on the subject one way or another, it would be one thing. He’s spoken his opinion to a few friends and once to Henry, but he hasn’t spoken publicly about it.

Cromwell asks about the supremacy part of the oath, and showing his lawyerly side, More withdraws the pamphlet Henry wrote defending the pope’s divine role.

Every villain has moments of awesomeness, and this is one of More’s.

Realising how much he was just owned, Cromwell simply asks if More will take the oath. He reminds him of the consequences if he doesn’t.

More’s moment of awesome is soon over, however, when he gives this speech, “Mr Secretary, I am the king’s loyal subject. I say no harm; I think no harm. But I wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive and in good faith, I long not to live.”

He thinks people peacefully worshipping or not worshipping as their conscience dictates is cause for them to be burned to death. He’s said so, and worse, he’s done so. He doesn’t wish Luther good, and if he wished those people he burned good, it didn’t stop him from burning them.

Asking Cromwell to impart his love and loyalty to Henry, he leaves.

Cromwell picks up the pamphlet to see how much damage control he needs to start doing.

In her chambers, Anne has a private conversation with Madge. Likely knowing why Eleanor was dismissed, Madge is quick to deny the king’s interest in her, but Anne explains she needs someone she can trust to keep Henry’s bed when she’s unable to.

Elsewhere, Eustace tells Henry that Mary is sick. He begs Henry to let Catherine attend to her. Henry says he’ll send his personal physician to tend to Mary but refuses to let her see Catherine. He expresses his fear they might rise a rebellion against him.

At a More family meeting, More holds a little girl in his lap. He explains he’s been summoned to take the oath and will likely be imprisoned. He urges his family to take care of one another and be good. He gets up, and when the little girl tries to tug him back, he softly says, “Darling, no.” He leaves.

It’s a touching scene, but I have to wonder how many families he deprived of their beloved members due to them trying to peacefully follow their conscience.

In the next scene, Henry’s impatiently waiting on a horse when Madge appears. She says Anne is indisposed, but she doesn’t mind if Madge going riding with him. He agrees.

Inside, Anne cries. Natalie Dormer does a good job with the scene.

Meanwhile, More is rowed to Lambeth Palace.

Riding, Henry and Madge talk about her name.

Back to More, he enters a room where Cranmer, Cromwell, and several other men sit. Cranmer asks if he’s ready to swear the oath. More asks to see the oath, and not two seconds after he starts reading it, Cranmer demands, “Well?”

Declaring he won’t condemn the makers or swearers of the oath, More refuses to swear it. He’ll swear to the validity of the succession but not the rest.

I’m assuming he believes Henry does have the right to choose his own heirs even above his legitimate children.

Angry, Cranmer yells at him. Withdraws the pamphlet, he asks if More denies persuading Henry to write it against Henry’s conscience.

“Of course, I deny it,” More responds. He says he’d never ask anyone, high or low, to act against his or her conscience.

So, asking is bad, but using the threat of horrible death as a tool of coercion is acceptable?

He continues Henry was the one who persuaded him on how important it was to defend the papacy.

Even without the scenes of Henry being gung-ho about defending the papacy in the first season, More has always been the bigger, more sincere defender of he two of them. Those scenes of Henry being the pope’s defender didn’t do anything to persuade More of what he already believed. I guess, there’s some sort of maybe technical truth to this, but really, More is doing himself and his faith a disservice by claiming this.

Using the pamphlet was different. He was simply pointing out Henry’s own past policies are in sharp contrast with his present ones and that More himself isn’t and wasn’t responsible for any of the policies or their changes.

Cranmer reiterates his question of why More won’t swear, and More sits quietly.

In a cabin somewhere, Madge and Henry laugh and drink together. Having her sit on his lap, he peers down her dress. They move in for a kiss.

Meanwhile, More is escorted into his cell and told Fisher is down below him.

Fin.


End file.
